WBS MBA Community

WBS MBA Community FAQs

Category: GENERAL

Question: Why should I join WBS MBA Community (and MBAconnect.net)?

Answer: By joining our community, you will be able to: • network and interact with other MBA students and alumni (via events and your own personal messaging system), • market your services, • build your brand, • gain access to MBA-calibre job opportunities, • share ideas and challenges, • take advantage of special offers, and • find high-calibre suppliers and services within the MBA community. These are only a few of the fantastic features available, and we are constantly adding to and enhancing the site. The combination of these services has been customised specifically to meet your needs as MBA graduates and students, based on our market research. It is FREE to join. WBS MBA Community’s and MBAconnect.net’s services complement and support those offered by existing alumni bodies at business schools around South Africa. In this way, we as MBA students and graduates can take joint ownership with our business schools to raise the profile of our alumni community, increase awareness of the value of our MBA degrees, and enhance the credibility and standing of our business schools. The more MBA graduates and students that join WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net, the more clout we have with employers, recruiters and suppliers. In turn, the more powerful and far-reaching the network becomes in terms of what it can offer you as an MBA graduate or student. So please tell all your MBA colleagues about our site, and encourage them to join. We are always looking for ways to enhance WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net. If you have any suggestions, comments or complaints, please contact us at info@mbaconnect.net.

Question: How do I register?

Answer: If you are an MBA student or graduate, simply click on the “Join” button on the left. This will take you to the Registration screen. Here we’ve tried to make the registration process as painless as possible by asking you to fill in only the most essential information and click “Submit”. It’s that easy.

Question: What is the difference between WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net?

Answer: At Wits Business School we’re committed to bringing you innovative, cutting-edge solutions to better meet your needs as our MBAs. We’ve surveyed past and current MBA students to determine exactly what you expect from the WBS MBA alumni association. Based on our research findings, an online social network is the ideal way to meet your needs. We’ve partnered with MBAconnect.net, a social networking platform built specifically for the MBA community and founded by a fellow MBA, Colette Symanowitz. Through this collaboration, we can bring you WBS MBA Community, a dynamic community website which connects Wits MBAs with each other and with MBAs from other business schools around the globe. We facilitate networking, events, job opportunities, knowledge-sharing and a host of other fantastic features for the Wits MBA community. In essence, MBAconnect.net is a social network aimed at MBA alumni and current students from all business schools worldwide, whereas WBS MBA Community is aimed at the subset of MBA alumni and current students from Wits Business School. On WBS MBA Community, you’ll still have access to all the great features on MBAconnect.net and you’ll still be able to interact with the broader MBA community from all business schools. However there will be more emphasis on WBS’ relationship with you. So you’ll receive communications specifically from WBS for WBS MBAs, there will be WBS events aimed at WBS MBAs, and other WBS-specific elements.

Question: How do I change my profile details?

Answer: Simply login and then click on the “My Zone” menu item on the left, and sub-menu My Profile. Once your profile is displayed, click on “Edit Profile”, make the required changes, and “Save“, and “Done” to view your new public profile. This is the profile that others will see on the WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net websites. Your profile is your personal space to tell the MBA community about yourself, and to market your education/qualifications and specialties. In order to get the most out of this site, we recommend that you spend some time in specifying your profile. We encourage you to upload a picture of yourself, as this increases the likelihood of others interacting with you, and thus for you to grow your network. Remember, to protect your privacy and security, and to prevent 3rd parties harvesting your details and spamming you, your contact details will not be displayed in your public profile. They will only be visible to you in your private profile. This is the profile that only you can see.

Question: How do I change the email address where I receive WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net communications?

Answer: Simply login and then click on the “My Zone” menu item on the left, and sub-menu My Profile. Once your profile is displayed, click on “Edit Profile”, go to the “Contact Details” tab, and update your email address. Finally, press “Save“ and “Done”. You’ll now receive all communications from WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net at your updated email address.

Question: How do retrieve my password if I’ve forgotten it?

Answer: If you forget your password, you can retrieve it easily. Simply click on the big red “Login” button on the left. On the login screen that comes up, click on the “Forgot your password?” link under the “password” field. In the “Forgot your password?” screen, enter the email address associated with your admin profile and press “submit”. At this email address you will be sent your username and password.

Question: What is the benefit of having my pic displayed on the What’s On page and showing more about me? And how do I set this up?

Answer: If you upload a recent picture of yourself in your profile, others can form a visual connection with you. What’s more, you’ll appear periodically on the What’s On page. It is worthwhile writing something interesting and unique about yourself in the “About Me” field of your profile. This will show up by your pic on the What’s On page. With the help of both these features, you can increase the likelihood of others interacting with you and of growing your network. To make these changes to your profile, simply login and then click on the “My Zone” menu item on the left, and sub-menu My Profile. Once your profile is displayed, click on “Edit Profile”, make the required changes to the “About Me” field, and upload a pic of yourself. Finally, press “Save“, and “Done” to view your new public profile. This is the profile that others will see on the WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net websites.

Question: Why should I join WBS MBA Community (and MBAconnect.net) when I am already on Facebook?

Answer: WBS MBA Community, MBAconnect.net and general social networking sites (SNS’s) like Facebook do share features in common (such as networking, instant messaging, etc). However, they serve different needs, and their user base differs, hence WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net do not aim to replace the general SNS’s. However, there are a few key differences between WBS MBA Community (and MBAconnect.net) and other more general SNS’s, which are outlined below: • General SNS’s like Facebook attract a much broader audience, whereas MBAconnect.net is a niche community aimed specifically at MBA students and graduates from all business schools worldwide (with WBS MBA Community being aimed at the subset of WBS MBA students and graduates); • People join the general SNS’s for different reasons compared to WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net, for example people typically join Facebook for social reasons. By contrast, our members join WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net to engage in high-level interactions with likeminded MBA business professionals and to expand their MBA network. • WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net offer many more value-added features than the typical SNS, all of which have been specifically designed for the MBA community. These include MBA-level job opportunities, knowledge-sharing, functionality to market your services, and special offers specifically for MBAs, to mention a few of the fantastic features on the site; • Whereas general networks like Facebook have security issues, WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net engender a strong degree of trust among their members through privacy protection measures. These include verification of MBA degrees, and hiding of users’ contact details from other users, advertisers and third parties. In this way, WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net combine the best features of SNS’s like Facebook and LinkedIn with its own flavour into an innovative offering specifically designed to meet the needs of MBA students and alumni. More importantly, where the differentiation comes in, is that there aren't any online networking opportunities available specifically for MBAs from different schools to connect with each other. So the networking across business schools is the critical success factor behind both WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net. By getting MBAs talking to each other regardless of business school, these sites will give us MBAs a much broader and more powerful network than we've had up until now.

Question: How do WBS MBA Community (and MBAconnect.net) differ from Net Impact?

Answer: MBAconnect.net is a social networking site for MBA students and graduates (with WBS MBA Community being aimed at the subset of WBS MBA students and graduates). We facilitate networking, events, job opportunities and knowledge-sharing within the MBA community. MBAconnect.net also develops branded versions of the MBAconnect.net website for other niche professional communities and business schools. By contrast, Net Impact is a network of business school students, graduates and other professionals who are involved or interested in values-based business - especially environmental or socially responsible and other sustainable development issues. They are an international network. Membership is extremely large and they are active in many programs, such as assisting non-government-organisations with graduates on their board as non-executives, education, curriculum changes, etc. They use the alumni networks and current students at business schools to network on these issues. Thus, Net Impact, MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community are all networks aimed at business school students and alumni, but MBAconnect.net is aimed specifically at the subset of MBA students and alumni, with WBS MBA Community being aimed only at WBS MBAs. WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net are social networking communities where MBAs can interact with each other, whereas Net Impact is a network centering on values-based business where MBAs can get involved.

Question: How do WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net differ from MBA.co.za?

Answer: MBA.co.za is aimed at individuals who are interested in studying an MBA degree. This includes individuals who may not meet the stringent criteria to be accepted for the degree. MBA.co.za is also an information portal rather than a social network By contrast, MBAconnect.net is a social network aimed at individuals who are either studying towards or have already completed their MBA degrees, with WBS MBA Community being aimed at the subset of WBS MBA alumni and current students. Because individuals on the MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community websites have already met the stringent criteria required to be accepted for an MBA degree, the calibre of individuals on MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community tends to be higher than those on MBA.co.za.

Question: Do you know of any MBA entrepreneurial get-togethers, as I am in that space exploring and would love to connect?

Answer: Under the “Events” menu item, select the “View Events” sub-menu to search for events that you would like to attend (such as entrepreneurial get-togethers). If there isn’t one being held, the “Create Event” sub-menu allows you to organise events that you want (such as a network for MBA entrepreneurs). We also connect new startups who have new ideas, with funding and with people who want to work for startups. So contact us at info@mbaconnect.net if you’d like to get involved in this initiative. In the future we are considering offering an online feature that facilitates networking between entrepreneurs seeking funding, and potential funders such as Private Equity/Venture Capital firms, business angels and other investors. Another way to promote your services to the MBA community would be to upload a profile of the services that you’re offering as an entrepreneur, using the site’s “Marketing My Services” module.

Question: Can all MBAs join or do MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community follow the guidelines of the accredited MBA programmes?

Answer: For users who register on the MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community websites, we verify with their respective business school that they have an MBA degree or are studying towards one. However we will not be screening them on the basis of whether their MBA qualification is from an accredited MBA programme or school. So, all MBA alumni and current students can join MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community, provided their qualifications can be verified with their business school.

Category: COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS

Question: How can I interact with other WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net users?

Answer: The ability to interact with other members of the MBA community is a critical component of both the WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net sites. Once you have joined and logged-in, there are a number of ways to interact with other users: • By sending and receiving messages via your “My Messages” area; • By adding those users you send messages to or receive messages from, to your network; • By searching for users in the Member Directory; • By viewing the profiles of other users; • By commenting on a blog that another user has created; • By posting your own blog on the site; • By adding those users you interact with on a blog, to your network; • By attending an event (that you have created and invited others to, or to which you have been invited). Events could take the form of drinks, talks/presentations, get-togethers, etc.; • If you are an entrepreneur, by marketing your services on the MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community sites; • Faculty members, current MBA classes and study groups, and members of the same MBA syndicate can interact privately with each other. You can set up blogs, messages with/out attachments, and events such that only your lecturers, class, syndicate and/or study group can see them. So please encourage your WBS MBA classmates, syndicate members, study group members and lecturers to join WBS MBA Community; • You can also invite your friends who haven’t yet joined, to join the MBA community via the “Refer a friend” link. The more MBA graduates and students that join the MBAconnect.net and WBS MBA Community sites, the more clout we as a community have with employers, recruiters and suppliers. In turn, the more powerful and far-reaching the network becomes in terms of what it can offer you as an MBA graduate or student. So please tell all your MBA colleagues about these sites, and encourage them to join; • The home page offers a number of links to areas on the site where you can interact with other users, for example: o Each event in the “Upcoming Events” section hyperlinks to a specific event; o Each service listing in the “Latest Services Offered by MBAs” section hyperlinks to a specific service listing where an MBA entrepreneur is marketing their services; o Each blog in the “Latest Blogs” or “Blogs of Interest” sections hyperlinks to a specific blog; o Every time you log-in or refresh the home page, the user pictures displayed will change. Mouse over any of the pictures to find out about that user, their qualification and business school. Click on any of these pictures to go to that user’s full profile; o On the left of any page, you can click on the names of any of the “New Members” or “Latest Members Online” to view their profile. • During registration and in your “My Zone” area (under “User Alerts”), once you’ve logged-in, you can set the system to send you an alert no more than once daily about the following: o New messages you’ve received; o New job opportunities in your industry of choice; o New friend requests you’ve received about joining other users’ networks; o Upcoming events to which you’ve been invited. So, depending on your needs, you can use any or all of these methods to interact with others in the MBA community.

Question: Can I keep a record of my conversations with other WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net users?

Answer: Yes, all messages to and from other users are saved in your “My Messages” area for later viewing. You can add those users, who you would like to keep in regular contact with, to your network. They will then be easily accessible via your “My Network” area.

Category: FINDING USERS

Question: How do I find similar users?

Answer: Once you have joined the MBA community, you can find similar users by searching the Member Directory. Here you can use the freetext search field to search for others in the MBA community by name, company, industry, professional and personal interests, country and region, business school, completion year, and qualification status (current student or graduate). Alternatively, you can search using a combination of these parameters. If you know their business school qualification and business school, estimated or actual completion year, and qualification status, you can use the detailed search to narrow down your search to a specific user. Alternatively, in your “My Network” area of “My Zone”, you can click on the “Search for Friends” button, which will re-direct you to the Member Directory, where you can perform the above searches. In this way you can keep in contact with your MBA colleagues after you have completed your degree, and tap into the networking opportunities that the MBA community can provide.

Question: What do I do if the user I am looking for isn’t listed in the Member Directory?

Answer: If the user you are looking for isn’t found in the Member Directory search, it probably means they aren’t yet a member of WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net. To invite them to join, click on the “Refer a Friend” button displayed. Alternatively, you can go to the “Refer a Friend” menu item directly. You can invite as many friends at a time as you want.

Category: POSTING “MARKETING MY SERVICES” LISTINGS

Question: How do I post a “marketing my services” listing?

Answer: If you are an MBA entrepreneur, you can post your services on the “Marketing My Services” module. Simply login, click on the “Marketing My Services” menu item, select the “Create New Listing” sub-menu item, enter your details and click “Create New Listing”.

Question: How much does it cost to post a “marketing my services” listing?

Answer: Once you join WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net, if you are an entrepreneur, you will be able to upload a listing about the services that you offer, in order to market them to the database, for a nominal monthly fee. As an introductory offer, you will be able to post your service listing for free. This is for a limited period only, so hurry to take advantage of this special offer.

Question: Once I have posted a “marketing my services” listing, who will be able to read it?

Answer: All MBA users who have joined will be able to read your listing once it is posted on the site.

Question: How do I keep track of all the “marketing my services” listings that I have posted?

Answer: All the service listings that you have posted on the site, are stored in the “Marketing My Services” area, under “My Service Listings”. Here you can edit or cancel any of your service listings.

Category: SEARCHING AND READING SERVICE LISTINGS

Question: What does it mean to search service listings?

Answer: Using the “View Service Listings” submenu in the “Marketing My Services” module, you can search through all the service listings on the site by industry.

Question: How do I contact the MBA user whose service listing I have just viewed?

Answer: A service listing is the only place on the site where a MBA user’s contact details are displayed to other users. This is intended to encourage interested users to contact the service-marketer and generate business for them. If you are interested in a particular service listing, you can click the “Get contact details for follow-up” link. This will send a message containing that user’s contact details to your “My Messages” area, so that you can contact them directly. Your contact details won’t be visible to them. Like you, MBA entrepreneurs who post their service listings are part of the MBA community. So you can choose to start a private conversation with them on the site by searching for their name in the Member Directory, and sending them a message once their profile is displayed in the search results.

Category: POSTING JOB LISTINGS

Question: How do I post a job listing?

Answer: We can post your MBA-level positions on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net for you. If you are a recruiter or employer and would like more information or would like to have your job posted on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net, please contact us at info@mbaconnnect.net

Question: How much does it cost to post a job listing?

Answer: We can post your management and executive-level positions for you on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net at a flat rate per job per month. This would be irrespective of placement, and we wouldn’t be involved in screening. Alternatively, we also offer a placement-fee-based model. We can post your MBA-level positions on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net at no cost, so there is no risk for you. If you successfully place a candidate from WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net (either for your job posted on the sites, or for any of your other jobs), MBAconnect.net would receive a percentage of the package as a referral commission. If you are a recruiter or employer and would like more information or would like to have your job posted on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net, please contact us at info@mbaconnnect.net.

Question: Once my job listing has been posted, who will be able to view it?

Answer: All users who have joined WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net will be able to view your job listing once it is posted on the site. The latest 5 jobs posted on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net will also be displayed under “Latest MBA Jobs” on our home page (also known as the What’s On page).

Question: How do I keep track of all my jobs posted on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net?

Answer: We’ll be able to track your jobs for you. This includes resumes from screened interested candidates (if you opt for the placement-fee-based model, where we do screening for you) and regular updates as to how many users requested your contact details for each of your jobs. If a job is likely to be popular among the MBA community, we can also market it in our newsletter to improve the response (this is at the discretion of MBAconnect.net).

Question: Can I search the MBA database as a recruiter or employer?

Answer: MBAs can search the database for your jobs and can get your contact details sent to them if they are interested in your job; however you won’t be able to search the database or get MBAs’ contact details unless that MBA user chooses to contact you. This system has been designed based on our market research conducted on MBAs, which indicated that, because MBAs are highly sought-after candidates, they get headhunted often and don’t want their CVs and contact details in the public domain on the typical recruitment sites. So the only way MBAs will engage with recruiters is on their own terms, where they contact you if they are interested in a job. The higher the calibre of the jobs that you post on the site, the more likely MBAs are to be interested and to contact you. This is part of the reason for the requirement that jobs posted must be MBA-calibre.

Category: SEARCHING AND READING JOB LISTINGS

Question: What does it mean to search job listings?

Answer: Using the “Job Opportunities” functionality and the “View Job Listings” submenu, you can search through all the jobs posted by industry on the site. When you register, or when you search for jobs as a logged-in user, you can also set the system to alert you whenever a new job in your industry of choice is posted on the site.

Question: How do I contact the recruiter or employer whose job listing that I have just viewed?

Answer: Once you have opened the full job listing via the Job Opportunities menu and View Job Listings submenu, you can click the “Get contact details for follow-up” link in their job listing. This will send a message containing their contact details to your “My Messages” area, so that you can contact them directly. Your name and contact details won’t be visible to them. In fact they will not be able to see the names and contact details of any MBA users, not will they be able to search the WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net database for candidates. So, unlike other recruitment sites, the recruitment process will be totally confidential and you the MBA user will be in control of recruitment interactions.

Category: ADVERTISING

Question: Why should I advertise on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net?

Answer: The WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net databases of MBA students and graduates represents individuals who are difficult to isolate and highly sought after by advertisers. This is because the typical MBA graduate: 1. is a highly qualified, top-calibre individual; 2. has a high-earning trajectory; 3. is in the top LSM groups i.e. LSM 9-10; 4. is relatively young (usually in their mid-30’s) with relatively high disposable income; 5. is likely to climb the career ladder quickly; 6. is likely to be in a senior position in their own business or in a corporation; and 7. can come from a wide variety of industries such as Financial Services, Engineering, Consulting, Marketing, General Management, Retail, HR, IT, Medical, etc. Thus MBA graduates can be suitable targets for advertisers from a wide range of industries.

Question: How do I advertise on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net?

Answer: Advertisers wishing to target the MBA database can post ads on the site for a fee. Please note that the advertising is permission-based, and should be value-adding for MBAs. There are 6 forms of advertising offered on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net: • Banner ads on the site; • Special offers: this section lists all the special offers available to the database; • Affiliate marketing: Speak to us about adding WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net as an affiliate in your affiliate marketing programme; • Banner ads in regular alerts emailed to users; • Banner ads in regular newsletters emailed to users; • Barter deals/partnerships: where synergies exist between WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net and advertisers, barter deals can be explored. If you would like to advertise on our site or would like more information, please contact us at info@mbaconnect.net.

Question: What is the cost to advertise?

Answer: Kindly contact us at info@mbaconnect.net to enquire about our current rates.

Question: How do I pay for my banner ads to be posted on the site?

Answer: Once we’ve discussed your advertising requirements with you, we will send you an invoice. Once we receive your payment and your banner, we can load this onto the site.

Question: What are the sizes and dimensions of banner ads on WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net?

Answer: WBS MBA Community and MBAconnect.net offers the following forms of banner advertising and their specifications [indicated as size in kb (kilobytes), and width in pixels (px) by height in pixels (px)]: • Website banner ads: o Vertical banner: 13 kb, 120 px by 240 px, 2 slots per page; o Button 2: 8 kb, 120 px by 60 px, 2 slots per page; • Banner ads in communications with users: o User Alert Leaderboard: 20 kb, 728 px by 90 px, 1 slot per alert; o Newsletter Leaderboard: 20 kb, 728 px by 90 px, 1 slot per newsletter. They should be in either .gif or .jpg format, and in a non-transparent format.

Question: Can I use any banner ad I want?

Answer: Yes, within reason. We do, however, reserve the right to refuse to upload any banner ad which is deemed offensive. We also encourage you to advertise products and services that are relevant and value-added to the MBA community, as they will be more likely to purchase these.

Question: How will my banner ads be uploaded?

Answer: You can email the banner ad you wish to put up on the site to us at info@mbaconnect.net. Once we have received your payment, your ad will be uploaded.